Main Text: James 5:7-10 (Isaiah 35:1-10; Matthew 11:2-11) Remembering that everything is according to the Spirit, is also to remember that God does not follow our plan or timeline. In this culture of immediate gratification, we are all about getting what we want when we want it. Advent is a season that reminds us to…
Main Text: Romans 15:4-13 (Isaiah 11:1-10; Matthew 3:1-12) Advent speaks of waiting, but this waiting is not standing still. As we await and prepare for the coming of Christ and a new beginning, how are we to be found. Paul tells us to abound in hope. Hope is not a stagnant feeling but a forward…
Main Text: Romans 13:11-14 (Isaiah 2:1-5; Matthew 24:36-44) Paul is urging the people of God to wake up and get ready. What is one of the first things we do after we wake up? The thing that moves us from our wake up routine to heading out of the house is taking a shower and…
Overall Theme: As the congregation prepares to issue a call to a new pastor, it would be easy to think it is all about the congregation. It would be easy to think that the Call Committee has done it and the congregational vote has sealed it. As we enter this time of Advent, however, we…
Main Text: Colossians 1:11-20 (Jeremiah 23:1-6; Luke 23:33-43) This week we celebrate Thanksgiving in this country. It is a holiday in which we give thanks for all the gifts. Giving thanks is an important exercise, but what is the focus upon? In the practice of giving thanks for all the gifts, our focus is on…
Main Text: Luke 21:5-19 (Malachi 4:1-2a; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13) This Sunday is the culmination of our Stewardship Season where we pledge and dedicate our gifts to God for the coming year. Everyone is invited to step up and approach God and then to step out in living out that commitment. The prophet Malachi compares the…
Main Text: Luke 20:27-38 (Job 19:23-27a; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-5,13-17) God wins! That is the bottom line of faith and changes everything. To believe this is true through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is to believe that death should no longer be the focus of our lives and our vision. Job, who lost…
Main Text: Ephesians 1:11-23 (Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Luke 6:20-31) This Sunday, we celebrate All the Saints. These saints in many and various ways lived out their faith with power and purpose. Now it is time for us to step up and step out. We have received the same gift of God as our inheritance. Daniel…
Main Text: John 8:31-36 (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Romans 3:19-28) Luther was greatly troubled by the failure of the church in his day to live God’s love. The church failed to represent Christ to a world hungry for grace. Instead, they sought to preserve their own positions and power in the world and over the people. He…
Main Text: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 (Genesis 32:22-31; Luke 18:1-8) The readings this week stress persistence in our approach to God. When we step up, we are invited to do so with confidence knowing that God has everything we need for every good work. Jacob wrestles with God and would not let go until God blessed…
Main Text: 2 Timothy 2:8-15 (2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c; Luke 17:11-19 All three readings in different ways involve presenting oneself to God. In the first reading, Naaman’s journey to find healing from Leprosy ultimately has him confessing God present. He first tried the politically recognized avenues of power, but found a king not clothed in…
Main Text: 2 Timothy 1:1-4 (Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4, Luke 17:5-10) Way too many people are looking for their news from the media. That is not to say the media is “fake news” as has become the catch phrase for anything we don’t want to hear. The media and the news we receive, however, is incomplete…